God Bless The Child Who Can Hold Her Own
by Linda J
Summary: Sabretooth is a bitter man right? So what's he doing sitting in a church.
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: GOD BLESS THE CHILD  
AUTHOR: Linda J. Feedback is all ways nice.   
PERMISSION TO ARCHIEVE: Just let me know OK  
RATING PG(language)

DISCLAIMER: Marvel and FOX entertainment own Sabretooth, However, the characters Joyce and Matilda belong to me. This story is for entertainment only. No profit will be made from it.

CH1

Sabretooth's memory was fuzzy at best. Hell, he wasn't even sure if 'Victor' was really his name. It didn't matter though- "Sabretooth" suited him just fine. What did he need with a human name any way? He didn't consider himself to be one, and apparently on one else did either.

He sat comfortably perched on the branch of an old oak tree that was just on the edge of the church grounds. He was nearly two stories high and well out of anyone's sight. He quietly waited for the church service to begin before he would leap down and go inside. Until then, he was content to watch the people as they went by; it was entertainment for him. For the most part he had no desire to be a part of their world any more, though he was determined to figure these primates out. He was curious by nature and humans were curious to watch. Sometimes, he wondered if he had not mutated, what would life had been like for him. Would he act just as crazy as the people he secretly watched every day? Would he have married and had kids; take a boring job somewhere; buy a house have two cars; only to divorce and loose it all? Only when he was being painfully honest did he admit to himself he wished he could experience a normal life for even just a while. Sometimes when he was all alone and usually after a long night of heavy drinking he promised himself that someday he would walk away from all the killing, find a wife and make a home…only to talk himself out of the idea soon after.

It was a warm and sunny Sunday morning. Sabretooth had been riding his bike through the New England country side from town to town for fun when he just happened to drive past this quaint looking church. The sign outside of the building read 'OPEN ARMS' and had a picture of outstretched arms that revealed the nail-scared hands of Jesus Christ. In between the arms were the words "NORMALS AND MUTANTS WELCOME". Sabretooth knew this was something not too many churches were willing to allow, much less advertise. He knew this from personal experience; once, a long time ago, he had heard of a church that also claimed mutants were welcome. The young and shy mutant had bathed and brushed his teeth; combed his hair put on clean clothes; used deodorant: the works. He went there on a Sunday morning, looking to find hope, but was only shown the exit door. That pretty much told him everything he needed to know about these so called 'we love everyone' kinda churches. He returned to the church late that night and took great satisfaction burning it to the ground. He was especially pleased to hear that the board of directors was in a meeting in the church office when it went up in flames. Three men along with the pastor of that church died in the fire. To this day, the memory of that night brings a twisted smile to his face. Until today, he had not been inside another church, unless it was on business, of coarse. So, when he saw this little oddity from the side of the road however, he had to come and get a look-see. After all, Sabretooth wasn't one to pass up finding a church that was in bad need of a good torching.


	2. Chapter 2

CH2

He had noticed that while he remained in the tree, there did appear to be several mutants going into the church; much to his surprise. Could normals and mutants co-exist without hatred? Really live together peacefully? Share this world side by side? 'Not very damn likely!' he snorted to himself. Cynicism was the felinoid's religion now; good old fashioned cynicism. No one was ever going to convince him that 'Love thy neighbor' crap was ever going to stick. The world operated more on the lines 'Screw thy neighbor'. It was a harsh reality but it was one he understood quite well. The service was about to begin. Sabretooth decided it was time for him to go inside. Effortlessly, he jumped from the branch where he had perched. A boy about ten or so, saw this and exclaimed, "WOW! Mom, did you see that?"

"See what dear?" By this time Sabretooth was close enough to the boy to talk himself. The child could only stare at the huge man with his eyes and mouth wide open.

"What's a matter, kid? Ain't ya never seen some body come down from a tree b'fore?" The boy shook his head in amazement. "Well now ya have, so close yer mouth and stop starin'! It's rude!" Saber then gave the mother a hateful glare. "Ya'd think people would teach their kids some manners." and stomped off with his usual attitude from hell.

The usher at the door attempted to greet the giant mutant with a handshake but quickly learned that even coming too close to giant was a bad idea. Sabretooth pushed the usher backwards hard enough to knock the wind right out of him as a hit the wall. Needless to say, Sabretooth found his own seat in the very back pew. He did so by picking the spot he like best, and growled at the old black man who was already sitting there. The man nervously smiled and quickly moved to a new pew his seat. The cat-man sat down without giving the man so much as a thank you. The service then began with everyone, except Sabretooth, standing for the opening prayer. He sat there, arms folded over his chest; his long muscular legs were stretched out in front of him as he looked straight ahead, scowling. Most everyone by this time had the common sense to move away from the intimidating mutant; that is until as the music began from nowhere a tiny child's face just literally "popped" up from the seat directly in front of him. Sabretooth sat there almost stunned as he found himself confronting a pair of five year old eyes on the face of a little girl that stood up on the pew directly in front of him. She shyly smiled at him as she bounced to the beat of the music, twirling her long white wavy hair around her finger. Obviously a mutant herself, she had pale grayish colored skin and large almond shaped eyes with long lovely lashes. The one thing Sabretooth couldn't help but notice was just how HUGE her eyes actually were! They reminded him of the kind of eyes artists draw space-aliens with. She was odd looking no doubt about that; yet sort of cute even by Sabretooth's standards. He knew only too well what it was like to be physically different from those around you and for a brief moment Sabretooth felt the ice in his blood begin to melt. Then just as he was about to smile back at the strange little sprite, he reminded himself this wasn't how a black hearted bad-ass is supposed to feel. He stuffed his emotions down into the pit of his stomach keeping his arms folded and body stiff as he spoke to the child in a low ferocious voice, "I use kids like you fer chew toys. Now get outta my face!"

Sabretooth then began to wonder if the child didn't speak English, or maybe she was deaf, or she was just plain stupid, because she kept on smiling at him, and now she was even reaching out for him. Normally, he would have simply lunged at the child to scare her away, but this time it just didn't feel right. He could only imagine what it was like to go through life looking like a corpse from Mars. To be frank, Victor even felt a little sorry for her.

'Poor kid.' He thought. 'She's so lonely she's gotta come over here and try to make friends with me.' Contrary to popular mutant folklore, Sabretooth may be a ruthless killer, but he wasn't entirely heartless. 'So whadda ya gonna do?' he mocked to himself. 'Let the brat sit on yer lap? God 'Tooth, ya losin' yer edge!' Victor tried growling once more hoping that would be enough to chase her away but it was as if she didn't know what the meaning of fear was. Sabretooth sighed and gave up. "So where's yer parents, kid?" With that, she stopped reaching for him, and turned to the front of the sanctuary and pointing her finger. The fact that she wasn't talking didn't phase him; he was used to people being speechless when he was around.


	3. Chapter 3

CH3

"Well, if your folks are up there, who's lookin' after ya?" There was a hint of concern in his voice. "Isn't somebody watchin' this kid?" Victor gruffly asked a woman who was sitting close by. Quietly, the lady got up from her seat, and calmly took the girl by the hand as she politely apologized to the stranger, for any trouble the girl had caused. He accepted her apology by nodding his head. 'Better', he thought. 'Now maybe I can see what's goin' on 'round here.' The church looked like it could hold about 500 people and it was more than half full. The congregation seemed to be a mix of all sorts of people. There were persons of many races and colors, as well those with obvious mutations such as the young girl who was now happily drawing on some paper the lady had given her. Victor wasn't really sure what he would find here but he had to admit that the sign outside hadn't been a lie. 'OK. I'll give them that much.' He quietly reasoned. 'Now let's see if they can explain how they can do this when the rest of the world is killin' each other.'

As the music continued to play most people chose to stand. Some were raising their hands, and others were clapping. There were even some women waving banners and dancing up and down the isles. He figured this had to be one of those 'holy roller' churches he had heard of. He had heard some weird things go on in these kind of churches and he was curious to see what would happen next. It was certainly louder and more theatrical than other Christian churches he knew of but still, he was enjoying himself for the most part, not that for one second would he show it. With those cold emotionless eyes of his Sabretooth looked from one end of the sanctuary to the other; giving everyone his, 'none of you are impressing me', cat-like gaze. Then just as suddenly as the first time she appeared, Sabretooth had a close encounter with those space-alien eyes. The little girl had managed to escape from the lady who was too caught up in this 'praise and worship' stuff. This time he noticed that her eyes were similar to his in that they appeared to be all one color, except rather than being dark, the child's eyes were of the palest shade of blue/grey and the pupil was merely a thin, dark vertical line that ran from top to bottom. He patiently waited this time to see if she might say something, but there she quietly stood with those remarkable eyes. Then slowly, she handed the picture she had drawn for him. Victor rolled his eyes and accepted the paper. He mumbled an insincere "thanks", and set it down next to his seat. She then smiled even more brightly than before and went back to sitting with the lady, feeling quite pleased with herself. Sabretooth had NO intention to look at the picture she had made for him but once more his curiosity got the best of him. He casually glanced at the drawing and saw that all she had drawn was a big red heart, and wrote the words 'GOD LOVES YOU' under it. 'Oh, kid, YOU got a lot to learn!' Victor nearly laughed out loud.

He sat there in the aisle seat of the last row. His arms were still folded over his broad chest grimacing at everyone around him; but at least he was beginning to feel comfortable sitting there and every one around him was also beginning to feel more at ease with him. Despite his undeniably rude and aggressive behavior this menacing-looking stranger had managed to sit for 15 minutes without causing any serious bodily harm to anyone and they hoped that perhaps the rest of the service might go as peacefully.

Sabretooth began to study the people around him trying to figure them out as best he could. He really understood so little of society in general and the concept of religion itself just plain confused the hell out of him. However, deep inside he wanted to recall a time when faith did play a part in that life he had been forced to forget. In his heart he was almost sure he had once heard stories of a loving, caring, forgiving father-like God but Somehow those kind and comforting memories had been ripped from his mind and replaced by psychotic recollections of a cruel and vengeful deity that had no mercy for mutant scum such as Victor Creed. Once more his eyes were drawn to the picture the strange little girl had given him and groaned uncomfortably. 'God loves me? Very damn funny kid!' he thought to himself. If so, then why am I a mutant? Or for that matter why are mutants hated so damn much? What the hell did we ever do to deserve this?'

He almost grabbed the paper to crumple it up but instead quickly flipped the paper over so he wouldn't have to look at it. 'God loves me?' he mocked to himself again. 'He loves me? No not me, I enjoy the feel of blood running down my fingers, the funny 'plop' noise entrails make when they fall out of someone's body and hit the ground, and I really get off hearing some frail scream when I fuck her,' Sabretooth sadistically reminded himself. True he was a savage killer who seemed to enjoy his work only too well but once the deed was over and the surge of pure rage had faded, he was sickened by most of those memories. God, how he hated those memories! He hated them that is until he was caught up in the thrill of repeating them- again and again. He hated himself for not being strong enough to fight off the urges, for giving in to them every single time. He hated himself too for the fact that he would allow people use him to do these terrible things just so that they wouldn't get their hands dirty. 'God loves me?' he painfully asked himself again. 'God loves a killer, a brute, a rapist? God loves ME? No, not me.'

He tried to recall a time, any time when perhaps his life might have been different but could only remember a life full of violence, destruction and hate. Angry thoughts of loss and betrayal hammered away at his soul, stealing any chance of joy or comfort he may have embraced from the child's simple little message. By now, Sabretooth was no longer feeling so relaxed as the grinding of his teeth brought him back to the present. He thought about letting go and have an 'episode' right here and now. The thought of sending one or more of these doe-eyed simpletons to meet their maker tickled him. He felt a strange sense of power and satisfaction knowing that all he had to do to turn their expressions of peace and complacency into sheer terror stricken fear, was jump out of his seat, bare his claws and fangs and let out one hellava ROAR!


	4. Chapter 4

CH4

Slowly the psychotic felinoid felt himself inching closer and closer to one of his blind rages when unexpectedly that strange little girl once again popped up from nowhere. She had managed to escape the attention of everyone who should be keeping a watch on her and had crawled on the floor, under the pews just to get next to Sabretooth. Without even as much as an invitation, she climbed up onto the back pew and plopped herself right next to him, making herself at home. In an instant Sabretooth's anger began to fade, and he began to experience a strange calming affect by the girl's presence. "Some gift kid! You're better than Prozac!"

Sabretooth began to wonder why he even bothered to expect a response from this unique little girl. Under normal circumstances, he would have taken offense to her apparent rudeness, one thing that Creed couldn't stand was to be ignored, but it seemed to him she wasn't deliberately being rude. No, there was something definitely "off" about this child but had no idea what it could be. He figured she could hear, he remembered watching her bounce to the beat of the music. He looked down at the child as she rub his arm feeling the smoothness of the leather and noticed a she had a small collection of Polaroid pictures fastened to a bungee cord and attached to her waist. Creed saw that the first picture was of the child with "My name is Matilda" written underneath.

"Well Tilly," Vic concluded with dull surprise, "guess this proves yer mute. That's OK," his low quiet voice seemed full of compassion. "I don't like bein' 'round people who talk a lot any way." He looked down at the strange child and watched her fingers tracing the wrinkles his elbow made in his coat.

"Mutations- just as good at takin' away abilities as they are at giving them huh?" By now he was getting used to her consistent lack of communication and he was beginning to feel comfortable once again. Having a small child so innocently cozy up to him felt somewhat refreshing but in the back of his mind Sabretooth knew how quickly he could lose his temper and he was beginning to like the child well enough to hope she would never have to see him that way. Yeah, for now Matilda was safe, but all that could change with a simple mood swing. Then there was this whole "God Loves You" thing. Sure, he knew she was just a dumb kid, and one who obviously was a terrible judge of character, but what if the next psychopath she pulled this on wasn't so open-minded? Hadn't anyone ever told her about people like him? Or were these dumbass frails too heavenly minded to see there's a devil in their house? Well, if no one else cared enough about the poor child to warn her about guys like him, then maybe he should tell her himself. He turned and gave Matilda a very serious look and swallowed hard, trying hard to get over his hatred of dialogue.

"Now look, Tilly. I wantcha to know that I liked the little picture ya made fer me." He was trying hard to get his point across without hurting the girl's feelings. "I mean...it was nice of ya...but, um...now...I don't wantcha takin' this the wrong way, but, um..."

He sighed and decided to just spit out what he wanted to say. "Here it is squirt; there's a lot of bad people in the world...and I'm one of the worst!" He then reconsidered his words and quickly decided to change his tone.

"Oh geez!...No, kid...I...I don't want ya to think I'm goin' hurt ya...Well, the whole point is I COULD but..." He was beginning to remember why exactly he hated talking so much as he cursed himself. 'Shuddup stuppid, ya wanna make the baby cry?'

"...I don't want to hurt ya! Believe me, that's not what I'm trying to say. It's just…well, it's just…" Sabretooth just gave up entirely and waited for Tilly's reaction. He wouldn't blame her if she began to cry now, or even try to get away from him. Maybe gasp with fear? Stare at him as if he were a monster? The very least she could do was look a bit shocked! Something! But instead, nothing! She was now innocently playing with the buckle on her shoe. "Hey..." he gently reached out for her chin careful not to harm her with his long clawed fingers and turned her head to his. He quickly noticed her dislike for eye-to-eye contact.

"I don't care what some Sunday-school teacher mighta told ya squirt. Ya can't go 'round tellin' ev'rybody that God loves 'em. It's bad fer yer health! Got that?" He let go of her face only to have her go back to playing with her shoe. 'Don't think she's retarded, she writes and she can draw...' He then suddenly smiled to himself. How many times had he heard people question his intelligence.

"Nothin' hurts more like bein' misunderstood don't it squirt? Maybe that's why me and you feel comfortable together, you think?" Vic realized he had no choice but MAKE himself behave, at least for Tilly's sake. 'Well that settles it, guess I just hafta keep my head clear while the babe's around.' For a moment, he imagined this is what being a father was like, then it suddenly occurred to him that for the first time in his life, he was actually sitting in a church during service. He couldn't help appreciate the irony of his situation; this was after, all so unlike him.

He wasn't sure anymore what made him come inside, it had to be more than wanting to see if "norms" and "muties" could get along. Deep inside Vic knew the reason; it was time to let some old wounds heal. The time had come for the pastor of the church to speak. Vic was interested to see the person who was dumb enough to stand up against the world and the odds in the attempt to unify normals and mutants. He was somewhat expecting to see a wimpy half-assed x-man still under Xavier's delusions to come onto the platform. Instead, he was mildly surprised to see a woman that he had never seen before, get behind the pulpit. She was a tall, large woman with long jet-black hair that she wore off the shoulders in a bow. She was naturally tanned golden-brown, and her eyes were olive-green. This preacher-lady didn't appear to be a mutant, nor did Creed detect anything peculiar in her scent. 'She may not be the prettiest thing to look at but she must have some serious kahonas to stand up there and speak to these bozos.'


	5. Chapter 5

CH5

"The first thing I would like for us to do this morning is thank God for changing Senator Kelly's heart!" the woman began. "As most of you know Senator Kelly was once one of our worst adversaries, and now he is one of our best supporters! Only the hand of God could bring about such a miracle!" While the rest of the room broke out in applause, Victor sat in his seat snickering to himself. 'Wonder what Blue would say if she ever heard this?' Too bad he was never going to tell her. If Mystique ever found out where he had been today, she would never let him live it down. Even though the rest of the gang, including Mags, would a big laugh from this, he was just going to keep it all a secret. As the cheering ended, she continued.

"Next, I would like for everyone to turn around and greet our guest." It seemed to Victor that every eye in the room was now on him. "We are glad to have you join us today, sir. Would you care to stand up and tell us your name?"

'Oh, this'll be fun,' he thought sarcastically. He calmly stood up and waited for moment expecting someone to recognize him from the many tabloid magazines or the television true-life crime shows which depicted him as a fiendish and terrible monster. But oddly enough, the only one who seemed to remember him from anywhere was the boy who had watched him jump down from the tree. Sabretooth almost felt a little disappointed, he thought by now he had at least reached national celebrity status, but he supposed this did help ease the current situation. Honestly, what was he going to do if someone had recognized him and jumped up screaming "MURDERER! MURDERER!"? Start swinging his claws left and right slashing at everything in his way? He cleared his throat and humbly spoke up, "Sabretooth." He knew giving out his real name was strictly taboo. The preacher smiled and spoke into the microphone.

"It's an honor to have you join us today, Sabretooth. I'm Joyce and I see Matilda's already made herself known. Sorry if she's been bothering you. She tends to pick out her own baby-sitter." He groaned a bit wondering if he liked being called the brat's baby-sitter, but thought it was interesting to have someone think of him as something other than a simple slice-n-dice machine. Vic shrugged his shoulders.

"No problem. She's OK" He never could use lengthy sentences around people he didn't feel comfortable with. As much as he wanted to inquire about Tilly's condition, he wasn't about to get into a conversation with a lady with a microphone.

"Well if she starts to get on your nerves just let someone know." Joyce then spoke up to the rest of the church with a cheery voice. "Everyone say hello to Sabretooth." A unanimous "hello" went up, and with that Victor took his seat. Popularity was something he knew nothing about, but he was sure he could feel right at home with it. It was almost as rewarding as watching some frail beg for her life. Well...almost.

Creed began to study each stain-glass window with great interest as Joyce began her sermon. It may have appeared to some that he was ignoring her, but that was not so. The human language, both the body and the spoke forms were so alien to Victor. As hard as he tried, he never could entirely grasp their concepts, and more often than not they made him feel uneasy, like he was being threatened. Fortunately, he had learned that if he was earnestly interested in what someone had to say, he must first focus on something else in the room. This kept him from a more serious distraction, like wondering when he may be physically attacked. In this case, the stained-glass windows made the perfect choice for a visual pacifier. He couldn't remember if he had ever seen something made by man that was so beautiful. He noticed the way the sun-light shone through each payne; how the rays dazzled and danced about the room, soothing and ministering to his soul. Each window told him a different story, and each window urged him to view what only the heart could see. For the first time in his long, hard life, Victor Creed was experiencing art---not just looking at it as any time before. He promised himself he would try this more often.

One window was of a shepherd and his flock. This one was mostly done in shades of browns and greens. Another was of a woman and a man (Jesus?) having a conversation by a well. Rich and lavish shades of red, blue and purple brought this picture to life. Still another window had a lion snuggling up with a lamb, while a small child played with a snake. Sabretooth chuckled a little bit and point to the window. "Kinda reminds me of us," he whispered to Matilda as she leaned her weight onto his elbow to take a nap.

But the one that kept catching his eye was what looked like a group of joyful people with their hands raised, and what appeared to be flames covering them, as a white dove flew above their heads. Victor had no idea what any of this picture was about, but it was a beautiful scene all the same, with its bright shades of yellow and red mingled in with its shades of orange and gold. Yes, he quickly decided this was his favorite one. Suddenly, Vic heard the queen-size matriarch mention something about angels and instantly his cat-like ears twitched in her direction. 'Angels?' Victor listened closer.

"Angels come in all shapes and sizes." The woman's voice rang clear as a bell through out building. "Some angels do come straight from heaven, but most of the angels you and I are ever going to see will be made of flesh and blood, and they will be living next door to you, standing behind you in the grocery line, working along side of you on Monday morning, or for that matter you might have one sitting next to you right now. Victor just looked down at Matilda who had now fallen asleep beside him and mused. Could this creepy looking, mute child be an angel? Joyce continued.

"Well, believe it or not, most of the time God sends people like you and me to do the work of angels. We are all ordinary people who are capable of doing extraordinary things." Sabretooth noted that this woman seemed to really believe in what she said. Even so, he brushed most of her words off; surely she wasn't talking to HIM.

"Some of us here were born with special abilities and so was Jesus. Yet, in spite of our ability to do great things in this world, we are afraid to because we will be labeled as mutants, freaks or monsters. But please remember that God made you the way you are for a reason. He knew exactly what he was getting and he knows exactly what he has planned for your life. No one here is a freak, or a monster, and I'm not even sure if mutant is even the proper term to call anyone. Bottom line is, no one here is a mistake, period!" The words hammered away at Victor stony heart. It sounded very much like what Magneto preached and then again it didn't. It was pretty much the flip side to Magneto's ideology. Sabretooth now perked up and kept listening.

"Jesus himself was persecuted and hated for doing God's will. But he never stopped helping or loving the very world that killed him. He never gave up on his mission, and he calls upon us to never give up ours." Victor noticed that some people clapped their hands others stood up or waved their hands. Victor even heard some old woman in the front roll yelling, "I know that's right!"

'These crazy people just keep gettin' crazier!' He thought half amused. Joyce then moved on with her sermon.

"Some angels bring messages, other bring help; but all angels bring love. But what kind of love you may ask. Well, do you think it's the kind of love that says, I'll love you only if you love me first? Maybe it's the kind that says, if you look just a certain way or act a certain way, then I'll love you? Or can it be the kind of love that says, as long as you have something I can use, then I'll love you?" she paused a moment for everyone to think on her words.

Then she became serious. "No of course not! It's the kind of love that lets you forgive those who have hurt you. It lets you live a life of peace and joy even after you have lived a life full of sin and selfishness. It's the kind of love that lets you even learn to love and forgive  
yourself." Her words were now starting to hit Sabretooth a little too hard. He lived in the hell he had created for himself and wasn't ready to change his address.

"That's perfect love. That's God's love. He loves everyone in here that way. And if you want to feel God's love personally, then ask him for it. He'll give it to you freely, and ask him for it every day." Vic rolled his eyes and began to think of leaving early.

'Well, now I see where Tilly gets it from. I might have known.' But just then however, a long silver cylinder object came crashing through the very stained-glass window that Victor had been admiring. Everyone jumped out of their seats at the sight of the obvious pipe bomb as Joyce commanded everyone to get under a pew as she and some of the men rushed for the bomb.

'Fuckin' morons! Like they think they know what the hell their doing!' Without another thought and the agility of a feline, Victor Creed leapt from his seat sailing a good twelve feet in the air and grabbed the bomb up the moment his feet hit the floor. Then - Whoosh! –he threw the bomb back outside through the very hole it made in the window. Joyce had just found Matilda who was now awake and crying from all the commotion when Sabretooth knocked her to the floor to protect her and Tilly from the explosion.

The bomb exploded within seconds, causing every window in the building to shatter raining shards of glass rain down on the sanctuary. Cautiously Sabretooth arose and looked around the room. When he saw pieces of his favorite window covering the floor, he let out an angry lion like roar.

"God damn it!" He was carelessly brushing off the glass that covered his arms and shoulders. Joyce picked up Matilda and stood face to face with Victor Creed. She was trying to calm her child by gently patting Matilda on the back. She was shaking like a leaf as she tried to thank the man that had very likely saved everyone in the building.

"Th-th-that was a very brave thing you did, Sabretooth, thank you."

"Oh, that ain't nothin' frail, er um, ma'am. I do this kinda shit all the time!" His chest puffed out like a rooster's. He just realized that she said 'thank you' to him. He couldn't remember the last time he heard those words.

"Um Sabretooth, do you think you could watch you're language?" Joyce politely asked.

"Huh?" Sabretooth looked a bit embarrassed. "So saving your pastry puff asses ain't enough to cut me some slack?"

"Eh, no." she smiled but stood her ground. Suddenly the sound of sirens made their way toward the church.

"Yep, they're playin' my song! We gotta do this again some other time OK babe?" Without another word, Victor dashed out of the building, jumped on his bike, and was out on the street before the cops were a mile away. As he made his way down the highway, the events of the morning played over and over in his mind. In some way he felt his life had changed, though he wasn't sure how or in what way.

'Angels,' he kept thinking to himself. 'Maybe the ol' gal was talkin' 'bout me after all.' He finally and reluctantly admitted. 'I'm gonna hafta make it back there some day 'n see if I can talk to that preacher lady person to person. Besides I kinda want ta see if that Tilly ever starts talkin' anyways.' He smiled broadly. 'Maybe I'll drop in 'round Christmas. That would be a good time to visit. Yeah. Christmas will do fine.'

-THE END


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